Combined washing and squeeze drying machine



Dec. 18, 1956 L. M. KAHN COMBINED WASHING AND SQUEEZE DRYING MACHINEOriginal Filed July 28, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 18, 1956 KAHN Re.24,257

COMBINED WASHING AND SQUEEZE DRYING MACHINE Original Filed July 28 i1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 24,257 COMBINED WASHING. ANDsou'aazli DRYING MACHINE Leo M. Kahn, Island Park, N. Y.

Original No. 2,611,257, dated September 23, 1952, Serial No. 607,587,July 28, 1945. Application for reissue September 6, 1956, Serial N 0.608,415

15 Claims. (CI. 6821) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in theoriginal patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matterprinted in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

forces to a mass of wet articles by utilizing an expand- 1 ible,pressure-transmitting element, wherein a minimum of strain is imposed onthe expandible element while very high pressures are exerted thereby onthe articles.

Another object of this invention is to guide the washed articles in thewashing cylinder so as to concentrate them where they may be effectivelyacted upon by the abovementioned pressure element.

A further object of this invention is to produce a squeezing force whichwill not diminish with the progress of the squeezing operations. thatsqueezing of mass of wet clothes to press the wash water therefromnecessarily reduces the volume of the mass. If this reduction of volumesis not accompanied by a compensating change in the squeezing elements,unsatisfactory action often ensues due to either a reduction ofsqueezing force as the squeezing element is extended to the new positionrequired by the reduced volume of the mass, or the subjection of thesqueezing element to great physical strain as the distance over which itmust operate is increased.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent from the followingdescription, it being understood that the above general statements ofthe objects of my invention are intended to describe and not to limit itin any manner.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a preferred embodiment of theapparatus.

Fig. 2 is a section along the line 22 of Fig. 1, partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view illustrating one of the pressure elementsas disposed in the washing drum and partly broken away. I

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through a modified embodiment of theinvention along the line 44 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 on a reduced scale.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 on a reduced scale andwith parts omitted.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of the squeezing element hydraulic pressureinput cable assembly.

Fig. 8 is a more or less schematic view illustrating the pressure diskrelease mechanism.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view illustrating the movement of the pressuredisk prior to the application of squeezing pressure.

It will be appreciated the operator.

I Re. 24,257 Reissued Dec. 18, 1956 ice Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view ofthe hydraulic cable supporting means.

The machine illustrated in Figs. 1-3 includes a suitable frame 15supporting a stationary fluid-tight housing or shell 16 adapted tocontain wash water, rinse water or other cleaning materials.Strengthening ribs 16a are disposed on the outer surface of the housing16. R0- tatably supported within the housing 16 is the drum 17 havingthe usual perforations 18, the drum 17 being arranged with its axishorizontal and having trunnions 19 and 20 at its end walls by means ofwhich it is rotatably supported by the housing 16. Strengthening ribs17a are disposed on the outer surface of the drum 17.

Rotating motion is imparted to the drum 17 by the motor 21 through itspulley 22, the belts 23, the pulley 24 and the shaft 25 which isfrictionally or otherwise connected to the drum trunnion 19.

A wash water input valve 26 serves to introduce wash water into theshell 16, the water reaching the mass of clothes 27 through theperforations 18 in the drum 17. A dump valve 28 serves to drain waterfrom the shell 16 as well as from the drum 17 since the water thereinwill drain to the shell 16 through the perforations 18.

A door 29 in the shell 16 registers with a door 30 in the drum 17 sothat soap, clothing, or any other required articles may be loaded intothe drum 17.

Washing of the clothes is effected by rotating the drum, as isconventional, by the action of the motor 21. The inner periphery of thedrum 17 is provided with ribs, not shown, extending parallel to the axisof rotation for the usual agitating or washing action.

Means are provided to squeeze the wash water from the clothes when thewashing or rinsing operations are completed. For this purpose a disk 32is arranged for axial movement in the drum 17. The disk 32, which may beof metal, wood, or the like, is connected to a worm shaft 33 and isdriven by a spur gear 34 which is actuated by electric motor. 35 throughreduction gearing 36. Electric motor 35 is of the reversible type sothat energization thereof will serve to drive the disk 32 axially of thedrum 17 in either direction at the will of Transmission of rotatingmotion between the disk 32 and shaft 33 is prevented by an anti-frictionbearing 33a disposed in the hub 33b of disk 32.

Secured to the disk 32 as by a multiplicity of radially disposedthreaded bolts, not shown, is the flexible bag 37. The bag 37 ispreferably, but not necessarily, of a flexible, water-proof materialsuch as canvas although it may be of an elastic material such as rubber.Due to the operation of the present apparatus, it is unnecessary toinflate the bag 37 to such an extent that the material of which it isconstructed is forced to stretch. An important element of the presentinvention, therefore, is that the bag 37 may be of non-stretchablematerial as will hereinafter appear. Fig. 1 illustrates in dotted linesthe shape of the bag when in the inoperative position.

As will be observed hereinafter, the disk 32 is arranged to travelaxially of the cylinder while the cylinder is rotating so that the wetclothes are both compressed and urged into radial form prior to theinflation of bag 37. This achieves a concentration of the clothes inflattened form and facilitates the application of high pressuresthereto.

Means to inflate the bag by a fluid under pressure is provided. Theshaft 33 is provided with an internal pipe 38 through which such fluidmay be introduced. Thus, a conduit not shown communicating with the pipe38 at the outer end of shaft 33 through a conventional type stuffingbox, not shown, may serve to introduce water or any other fluid underpressure to the bag 37, filling up the bag and creating considerablepressure along s s rf Th er pr ssure ma be about 39112. p r square inchand it may be taken from the community water supply or, a pump may beprovided should the community water supply furnish insufficientpressure.

Means for applying an opposing squeezing force is provided. Such meanstakes theform of a flexible bag 39 which is supported by the concavesteel plate 40 by means of radially disposed bolts, not shown, or bysimi-' lar means.

'Firmly retained in a set position by the inner wall of the drum 17 isthe concave steel plate 40, which is retained against said inner wall ofthe drum 17 by frictional means or by a concave member 39a. Concavemember 39a of steel or the like, is supported by the end Wall of thedrum 17 adjacent to trunnion 19 and its rim is connected as by weldingto the rim of steel plate 40. The steel plate 40 is formed withperforations 40a to permit fluid under pressure to inflate the bag 39and exert hydraulic pressure against its inner walls. Fluid for thispurpose may. be introduced through a pipe 41 through the pulley 24 andtrunnion 19, into the bag 39. The fluid under pressure may originatefrom the same source and be controlled by the same means as the fluidfor the bag 37.

The apparatus as illustrated in Figs. 1-3, is operated as follows: 3

Clothes or other material to be cleaned are placed in the drum 17through the doors 29 and 30 and water controlled by valve 26 isintroduced into the shell 16 entering the drum 1 7 through theperforations 18. When the water reaches the proper level for washing inthe shell 16, it is shut oil and suflicient soap and any other cleaningmaterial is supplied Thereafter, the single speed washing motor 21 isenergized through conventional control means. At the conclusion of thewashing operation, the dirty wash water is permitted to drain offthrough the dump valve 28. One or more rinsing operations may follow.

Then, while the drum 17 is rotating at a slow or Wash: ing speed asdriven by the motor 21, motor- 35 is started so as to effect the inwardmovement of disk 32. Since the clothes are being tumbled aboutby theWashing ribs while the disk 32 is moved inwardly and is accordinglyexerting a lateral pressure againstthem, the clothes will tend todistribute themselves radially instead of settling at the bottom of thedrum. Thus, the clothes will tend to assume the pancake shapeillustrated in Fig. 1. As the disk 32 and bag 37v travel inwardly theywill, meet considerable resistance as the clothes become concentratedand the load on the motor 35 will increase. A

thermal overload relay 35av of conventional design will,

thereupon open the electrical circuit of the motor. When the disk 32and, bag 37 stop their axial movement due to the action of the thermaloverload relay fluid under pressure may be introduced through the pipes38 and 41, simultaneously if desired, and from a common source. Bags 37and 39 will inflate but since the motor 35 has caused the bags andclothes to be in juxtaposition, the necessary inflation of the bags willbe extremely limited. It will be appreciated that the action of themotor 35 has, in eifect, initiated the squeezing action so that thehydraulic pressure apparatus need operate only over a very shortdistance. Thus, the bags 37' and 39 need never be inflated to a degreewhere the material thereof must stretch in response to the pressure.Accordingly, rubber, or any other elastic material need not be employedand in any event, the material of the bags will not be subjected togreat strain from thepressure of the hydraulic power.

It will also be observed that as the bags 37 and 39 squeeze the clothes,the volume of the clothes is necessarily reduced. This will reduce theload on the motor 35'so as to restore it to operation asthethermal'overload relay loses control. Thus,; the sl'ack-due-to thedecreasedvolume of the clothes will-be taken up by the motor 35. Duringthe progress of the squeezing operation the application of the fluidpressure should be intermittent so as to allow the motor 35 to operateas the clothes are reduced in volume. This may be easily accomplished bymanual actuation of a valve controlling the fluid pressure such asdescribed in the following embodiment of the invention. Similarly,instead of a thermal overload relay, manually controlled stop means maybe provided in combination with a transparent window for providingvisual access to the interior of the drum such as is shown in myco-pending application Serial No. 597,897, filed June 6 1945, now PatentNo. 2,540,168. v

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 4-10, the apparatus comprises a shellor housing 42 having the usual water input valve 43 and dump valve 44. Aperforated drum 45 is rotated by the two speed electric motor 46 throughpulley 47, belt 48, pulley 49 and shaft 50 which is connected to thetrunnion 51 of the drum 45. The other end of the drum has a ballprojection 52 which is rotatably retained by the bronze or other type ofantifriction bearing 53.

After the articles are washed as described above, extensible orinflatable bags are utilized for expressing the water from the wetarticles. A disk 54 having cut-outs formed therein to accommodate theribs 54a is arranged for axial movement in the drum 45. In order toaccomplish this axial movement a two Way valve 55 is provided to supplyfluid under pressure to the hydraulic cylinder 56. When the valve handle55a is pushed to the right, viewing the apparatus as in Fig. 4, ports 57and 58 are brought into communication and the piston 59 in the hydrauliccylinder 56 is inwardly actuated by the fluid under pressure. Piston 59is connected to disk 54 through piston rod 59a so that the inwardmovement of the piston is transmitted to the disk 54. In order to avoidrotation of the piston rod 59a, it is connected to anti-friction bearing60 retained in hub 61 of the disk 54, a nut 62 serving to enclose thebearing member.

Disk 54 is formed with radial ribs 63, 64, 6S and 66. Radial ribs 63 and65 are provided at their outer ends with teeth 67 and 68 which extendthrough the drum 45' and travel in slots formed therein. Fig. 4illustrates in broken lines the disk 54 when in inoperative position.

Means are provided to lock the disk 54 against outward axial movementduring the squeezing operations. For this purpose, a toothed detent 69is arranged to engage the teeth 67. It will be observed that therespective teeth of the disk 54 and detent 69 are biased to permit freeinward movement of the disk 54 but outward movement thereof is resistedwhen the teeth are engaged.

Toothed detent 69 comprises an arm 70 pivoted on the pivot pin 71supported in bearings 72' and 73. A spring 74 one terminal ofwhich isconnected to the drum 45 is arranged to bear upwardly against the arm 70so as to maintain the detent 69 in normally locked relationship.

Means are provided to effect release of the teeth 67 from the detent 69so' as to permit retraction of thedisk 54. Such means take the form of aring 75 connected to the arm 70 of detent 69. A solenoid 76, having aplunger in the form of a roller 77, is arranged to expel the roller 77,when energized. Such a solenoid is well known to the art, energizationthereof producing like poles in the solenoid housing and plunger therebyef-' fecting a repulsion ofthe plunger. Roller 77"is' slid- :ablymounted on a pair'of arms 78- limiting the outward throw of the roller.Release of the teeth 67 from the detent 69 is effected-- when thesolenoid 76 is energized so as to cause roller 77 to bear against ring75 against the action of spring 74. This pivots detent'69 upward ly anddisengagesthe teeth.

' Located degrees away on the periphery of drum 45 is a structure whichduplicates exactly the-lockingand releasing structure above mentioned.Thus, a detent arm 79 is arranged to engage teeth 68 of opposing rib 65.Similarly, a ring 80 in cooperation with spring 81, roller 82 and asolenoid, not shown, effects the release of detent arm 79.

Inflatable or flexible bags are provided in order to squeeze and expressthe washing water from the washed articles. Accordingly, a circularchannel 83 Y of U- shaped cross section is secured as by bolts. notshown. to the face of disk 54. A circular bag 84, of annular form isretained in the channel 83. The bag 84, like the bags 37 and 39 of theprevious embodiment, may be of canvas, rubber, rubberized cloth, etc. Aplate 85 having a U-shaped circular channel 85a formed thereon which iscomplementary in shape to that of channel 83, is secured by four springs86 to the disk 54 so as to be resiliently connected thereto. Channels 83and 85 serve to house the bag 84. A plate 85b has springs 85c connectedthereto for maintaining the plate 85b normally outwardly of the plate85.

The washed mass is designed to be squeezed between inflatable bagsacting in opposition to the bag 84 so as to achieve a high degree ofwater extraction. For this purpose, a bag 87 of annular form is retainedagainst the front inner wall of the drum 45. Similarly, a bag 88 isdisposed centrally of the annular bag 87 and is of greater depth asillustrated so that it extends considerably beyond the bag 87. Itspressure, however, is designed to be considerably less than that of bag84 so that it does not neutralize the pressure. This is accomplished byhaving its pressure area small in relation to the pressure area of bag87 although the bag 88 may be dispensed with as not essential to theoperation of the device.

The introduction of fluid under pressure to the bags is effected throughthe manually operated two way valve 89, having a valve handle 90. Theconstruction of the valve handle 90 is similar to that of valve 55 thehandie 90 controlling a duct which connects hose 91 to either ofconduits 89a or 89b, conduit 89a communicating with the pressure supply.Fluid, such as water under pressure may be taken from the communitysupply or may be provided by a special pump. The hose 91 is led overpulley 91a, through the stuffing box 91b, of conventional design, intothe hydraulic cylinder 56. It travels through the piston 59, shaft 59a,through the bearing 60, after which it branches off between the ribsformed on the outer face of the disk 54.

Hose 91 supplies the fluid to bag 84 through channel 83 at openings 92and 92a and thereafter branches olf to a slack section which is shown inhelical form at 92. The section of hose 91 illustrated as being coiledat 92 may be provided with a coiled spiral enveloping spring, not shown,which urges said section into its helical form. This spiral spring maybe of the type commonly used on home telephone wire to avoid tanglingthereof. A shelf 93 is provided on drum 45 to support said helicalsection of hose 91.

Hose 91 is led through an opening in shelf 93 where it is introducedinto bag 87 at point 94 and into bag 88 at point 95. The opposite sideof the drum 45 is likewise provided with a branch off of hose 91, asection of the hose being coiled on the shelf 96 and the hose then beingintroduced into the bag 87 at point 97. Exhaust of the pressure fluid isprovided at points 94a, 97a and 98 respectively. Bag 88 is supported ona disk 99 by rivets, not shown, or other suitable means. Disk 99isprovided with a shoulder 100 which nests against the end wall of drum 45said end wall being formed with a central opening for admitting the disk99. Pivoted iatehes 101, serving to frictionally retain the disk 99against the central opening of the drum 45, are pro vided in said endwall and are manually. operated by handles 101a. Disk 99 has formedthereon the ba1l52 which is supported in the bearing 5 3 of the door 102which is in turn hingedly supported in the end wall 103 of the shell 42and which is provided with a handle 104. A supplementary hinged door,not shown is formed on door 102 to provide access to the latches 101,the supplementary door being similar to the door shown in my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 569,609, filed Deeeni= ber 23, 1944.

After the mass of clothes has been squeezed to express the watertherefrom as will be hereinafter described, the disk 54 is retracted toprepare the apparatus for the next load of clothes. At that time valve55 is operated to bring ports 105 and 106 into communication. Thisserves to introduce fluid under pressure to the right side of piston 59as viewed in Fig. 4, so as to force the piston outwardly and eifect theretraction of the disk 54. The total extent of retraction need only beapproximately 12 inches or even less in a machine designed to operateupon a limited quantity of clothes. The retraction will, of course,uncoil the hose 91 Where it is supported on the shelves 93 and 96.

The apparatus shown in Figures 4-9 is operated as follows:

With the disk 54 in the retracted position shown in dotted lines in Fig.4, the supplementary door on door 102 is swung open and the handles 101aare turned to release the latches 101 from the disk 99. Then handle 104is actuated to swing the door 102 outwardly. This action brings the disk99 and bag 88 out of the shell or housing 42 and affords an entranceinto the interior of the drum 45. Sufficient slack is provided in thehose 91 to permit the said outward swing of the bag 88.

The clothes to be washed are then loaded in the drum 45 and pushed backas required. Suflicient soap and any other cleaning material may besupplied at this time, or after water has been added. The door 102 isthen closed and the latches 101 operated through the supplementary doorto seal the drum 45. Sufficient water is then admitted into the shell 42and drum 45 through the valve 43.

Electric motor 46 is then operated at a slow or washing speed wellunderstood in the art and the clothes are caused to tumble in the drum45 so that washing thereof is effected, the ribs 54a serving asagitators or elevators of the clothes during the washing action.

At the conclusion of the washing operation, the dirty Wash Water ispermitted to drain olf through dump valve 44 and one or more rinsingoperations may follow either at the washing speed or at a higher speedto be described hereinafter.

Thereafter, valve 55 is operated to bring fluid pressure to bear againstpiston 59 through port 58. Disk 54 will then be forced inwardly and willpile up the clothes as it is doing so, as illustrated in Fig. 9. Duringthis movement of the disk 54, electric motor 46 is switched, or broughtby a rheostat, not shown, into high speed so as to rotate drum 45 at aspeed sufficient to apply enough centrifugal force to the washed clothesto throw them outwardly against the inner wall of the drum 45. Thiscauses the clothes to assume an annular form as illustrated in Fig. 4,the speed of rotation necessary to create the annulus of clothes beingwell known to the art. Due to these actions, the disk 54 is brought to aposition in the drum 45 where it is caused to embrace the mass ofclothes as illustrated in Fig. 4 although the pressure against thepiston 59 is insufficient to effect an appreciable squeezing actionagainst the clothes. It will be observed that the shape of the teeth 67and those of the detent 69 are such as to offer no resistance to theinward movement of they disk 54.

At this time hydraulic valve 89 is operated to introduce fluid underpressure into the inflatable bags 84, 87 and 88. The central opening ofthe annularly shaped mass of clothes admits the b ag88 therein. Bags84,87 then succeed in exerting extremely high pressures against theclothes, in cooperation with bag 88, on three sides of the mass so thatthe expressed water flows through the perforations of the drum 45 aidedtherein by the centrifugal force acting upon the expressed water. Theconcentration of the clothes into annular form by the action abovedescribed permits the localization of the expressing forces asillustrated and provides a most effective squeezing action. Anyretracting movement of the disk 54 in response to the high fluidpressure exerted on the clothes will be prevented by the toothed detents69 and 7? which are maintained in engagement with the disk teeth by thesprings 74 and 81.

It is apparent that the squeezing action will necessarily effect areduction in the volume of the mass of clothes. It is highly desirableto have the disk 54 take up the slack bodily rather than require furtherextension of the inflatable elements. Accordingly, the operator mayperiodically, during the squeezing operation, actuate valve handle 0 ofvalve 89 so as to relax the fluid pressure in the inflated bags. Thiswill permit the disk 54 to move forward bodily in response to thepressure exerted against the piston 59, the exhaust fluid from hose 91being directed into conduit 89b. Thus, during the progress of thesqueezing operations, the disk 54, may move forward each time theoperator relaxes the squeezing pressure, it being feasible to do so anumber of times before the clothes reach a desired degree of dryness.This expedient enables the disk 54 to follow up the mass of clothes asit is squeezed, providing thereby not only a more satisfac torysqueezing action but avoiding excessive inflation and strain on thefluid operated bags. The plate 85b serves to absorb the axial pressureof the bag 88 by means of its springs 85c so that the squeezing pressureof bag 84 is not neutralized. The function of the bag 88 is to providean inner peripheral pressure against the mass of clothes so as to permitsqueezing action against three sides of the annularly shaped mass.However, it is apparent that the bag 88 may be eliminated, if desired,from the apparatus described without affecting the application ofopposing forces on the washed mass. Under these circumstances, the plate85a will be likewise dispensable. If it is desired to retain thefunction of bag 88, an alter native connection thereof may be effectedwhereby it is secured to the plate 85 and fluid operated from that endso that pressure forces on the mass will not be affected by itsoperation. 1

At the completion of the squeezing operation, it is necessary to retractthe disk 54 so as to prepare the apparatus for the next load of clothes.Valve 89 is first operated to relax the fluid pressure on the squeezingbags. Valve handle 55a of valve 55 is then thrown to the position ofFig. 4 so as to shunt the fluid under pressure to the inner side ofpiston 59. This will tend to drive the piston 59 outwardly so as toretract the disk 54. Simultaneously with the actuation of valve 55, anappropriate switch is operated in order to energize solenoid 76 and itsopposing solenoid in order to expel rollers 77 and 82 so as to depressrings 75 and 80 and release the detents 69 and 79. In the event that therollers 77 and 82 are in such relation to rings 75 and 80 that asatisfactory depressing action is not achieved, the drum 45 may berotated slightly in order to effect the necessary action. It is possible, however, to retract the disk 54 while the drum 45 is rotating sothat the disk 54 will be retracted in short spurts as the rollers takeeffect.

The detents 69 and 79 having been released, the disk 54 will recede toits inoperative position in response to the fluid pressure on the piston59.

It will be understood that the representation of valve 55 in Fig. 4 ismore or less schematic and that conventional means are provided fordissipating the exhaust pressure fluid in the forepart of hydrauliccylinder 56 as the piston 59 is actuated sons to retract the disk 54,The fluid maybe either disposed of as waste or returned to a storagesupply as those skilled in the art will recognize.

The squeezed clothes may be removed from the drum 45 at the end of thesqueezing operation either before or after the retraction of the disk54.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention but it is obviousthat numerous changes and omissions may be made therefrom withoutdeparting from its spirit. For example, while I have described the fluidpressure in the second embodiment as originating from a common source,it may be applied independently at both ends of the drum 45. With suchconstruction, the coiled slack of hose 9! and the shelf therefor may bedispensed with. In addition, the inflatable bags may be formed withpleats or corrugations to allow expansion without undue stretching andstrain of the material.

Generally speaking, my invention as herein disclosed, encompasses thenovel idea of tumbling a batch of wet clothes while mechanicallycompacting the same into a confined space of substantially reducedvolume, thereby to remove a substantial proportion of wash water fromthe some, and thereafter while the squeezed clothes are held confined insaid space, expanding a fluid-pressurized bag or wall against the same,further to compact the batch at substantially higher pressure to extractadditional wash water therefrom. This is made possible, for example, byprovision of releasable means for locking disk or piston 54 againstretraction, as best shown in Fig. 4, to permit application of highersqueezing pressure to the confined clothes by inflation of inflatablepressure means, such as the bag 88 and/ or bag 87, both of which arebacked and supported by the front wall of the rotatable drum 45.

I claim:

1. In a washing and drying apparatus including a washing drum havingperforations formed therein, means to express wash water from a mass ofwashed articles in said washing drum, said means comprising a pair offluid operated members laterally enclosing said mass of washed articles,first pressure means for bodily advancing one of said fluid operatedmembers Within the drum and toward the other member so as to embracesaid mass and second pressure means operative after said mass has beenembraced by the action of said first pressure means, said secondpressure means operated to apply fluid under pressure to at least one ofsaid fluid operated members, said fluid under pressure exerting aconsiderably higher force than said first pressure means so as toexpress the wash water from said mass.

2. In a washing and drying apparatus including a drum havingperforations formed therein, means to express wash water from a mass ofwashed articles in said drum, said means comprising a pair of fluidoperated members of flexible material laterally enclosing said mass ofwashed articles, first pressure means for bodily advancing one of saidfluid operated members within the drum and toward the other member so asto embrace said mass, second pressure means operative after said masshas been embraced by the action of said first pressure means, saidsecond pressure means operating to apply fluid under pressure to saidfluid operated members so as to cause said members to exert acorresponding fluid pressure against said mass, said second pressuremeans exerting a considerably higher pressure than said first pressuremeans for expressing the wash water from said mass and means to causesaid first pressure means to resume its said embracing action duringperiods after said second pressure means has commenced operation so asto compensate for the reduced volume of said mass due to the action ofsaid second pressure means during the progress of said expressingoperations.

3. In a laundry apparatus including a drum having wash Water dischargemeans formed therein, means to express wash water from a mass of washedarticles in said drum, said means comprising a fluid-inflatable pressuremember arranged for axial movement in said drum during a normallyuninflated condition thereof first pressure means for causing saidpressure member to travel bodily within said drum and toward said mass,independent second pressure means acting upon said mass through saidpressure member to squeeze the water from said mass, said secondpressure means being a hydraulic pressure so as to inflate the pressuremember and being operative against said mass after said first pressuremeans has reached said mass after traveling thereto whereby the water issqueezed from said mass by hydraulic squeezing operations and means topermit intermittent continued travel of said pressure member by theaction of said first pressure means after said hydraulic pressure hasbeen exerted against said mass whereby the decreased volume of said massdue to said hydraulic squeezing operations is compensated for bycontinued forward travel bodily of said pressure member within saiddrum.

4. In a cleaning machine having a rotatable cylinder and fixed end wallstherefor, apparatus to express wash water from a mass of wet clothes insaid cylinder, said apparatus comprising an inflatable pressure bag,said pressure bag being movable bodily axially from one end wall towardthe other, and means to inflate said pressure bag when it has traveledto said mass of wet clothes whereby the inflation pressure is appliedagainst said wet clothes so as to express the wash water therefrom.

5. In a cleaning machine having a rotatable cylinder and fixed end wallstherefor, apparatus to express wash water from a mass of wet clothes insaid cylinder, said apparatus comprising an inflatable pressure bag,said pressure bag being movable bodily axially from one end toward theother, means to inflate said pressure bag when it has traveled to saidmass of wet clothes whereby the inflation pressure is applied againstsaid wet clothes so as to express the wash water therefrom, and means tocause said pressure bag to re-assume its axial travel bodily in thedirection of said mass after the expression of wash water therefrom soas to compensate for the reduced volume of said mass during the progressof said expressing operations.

6. In a washing and drying apparatus including a drum havingperforations formed therein, means to express wash water from a mass ofwashed articles in said drum, said means comprising an inflatablepressure member arranged for axial movement in said drum, first pressuremeans for causing said pressure member to travel bodily within said drumtoward said mass during a normally uninflated condition of said pressuremember and second pressure means acting upon said mass by the inflationof said pressure member to squeeze the water from said mass.

7. In a washing and drying apparatus including a drum havingperforations formed therein, means to express wash water from a mass ofwashed articles in said drum, said means comprising an inflatablepressure member arranged for axial movement within said drum, firstpressure means for causing said pressure member to travel forward bodilywithin said drum during a normally uninflated condition thereof andtoward said mass so as to axially compress said mass during said travel,second pressure means operative to extend said pressure member after ithas compressed said mass before it so as to exert a high pressureagainst said mass, and means to maintain said pressure member againstrearward movement bodily while said second pressure means is operating.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7 and wherein said second pressuremeans is a fluid under pressure operative to inflate said pressuremember.

9. In a washing and drying apparatus including a drum havingperforations formed therein, means to express wash water from a mass ofwashed articles in said drum, said means comprising an inflatablepressure member arranged for axial movement in said drum in a normallyuninflated condition of said pressure member, first pressure means forcausing said pressure member to travel forward bodily within said drumduring its said normally uninflated condition and toward said mass so asto axially compress said mass before it during said travel, fluidpressure means operative to inflate said pressure member after it hascompressed said mass before it so as to exert a high pres sure againstsaid mass, means to maintain said pressure member against rearwardmovement bodily while said fluid pressure means is operating and meansto permit intermittent advance of said pressure member after said highpressure has been exerted against said mass whereby the decreased volumeof said mass due to said squeezing operations is compensated for bycontinued forward travel bodily of said pressure member.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9 including a second fluid pressuremeans acting against said mass in opposition to said first mentionedfluid pressure means.v

11. In a cleaning machine having a rotatable cylinder, apparatus toexpress wash water from a mass of wet clothes in said cylinder, saidapparatus comprising an inflatable compression bag axially movablebodily in said cylinder so as to pile up said clothes during saidmovement, means to rotate said cylinder during said movement so as tourge said clothes into radial form in respect to the axis of thecylinder, and means to inflate said com pression bag so as to apply highpressure against the radially formed mass of clothesfor expressing thewash water therefrom.

12. A machine for fluid-extracting clothes or like articles, comprisingan article-containing drum, n plunger axially shiftable in the drum,power means for axially shifting said plunger from a retracted positiontoward a fixed position at one end of the drum to compress articles in aconfined space of substantially reduced volume at said one end, lockingmeans for fixing said plunger against retraction from said fixedposition, a fluid-containing memher having a fluid-expandable flexiblewall portion mounted to be backed and supported at said one end of thedrum, and means for applying fluid-pressure within said member to expandsaid wall porti n against the articles in said confined space further tocompress the articles.

13. A machine for washing and fluid-extracting clothes or like articles,comprising a support, a drum mounted on said support to rotate about anaxis, a plunger axially shiftable within said drum, power means foraxially shifting said plunger from a retracted position toward a fixedposition at one end of the drum to compress articles in a confined spaceof substantially reduced volume at said one end, means for retainingsaid plunger in said fixed position, a fluid expandable flexiblediaphragm mounted at said one end of the drum, and means for applyingfluid-pressure within said diaphragm further to compress the confinedarticles.

14. A machine for washing and fluid-extracting clothes or like articles,comprising a support, a drum mounted on said support to rotate about anaxis, means for rotating said drum, a plunger axially shiftable in thedrum, power means for axially shifting said plunger from a retractedposition toward a fixed position at one end of the drum, a backing wallat said one end of the drum having a fluid-pressure expandable wallportion thereon, means for locking said plunger against retraction insaid fixed position, and fluid-pressure means for expanding said wallportion toward said fixed plunger.

15. A machine for washing and fluid-extracting clothes or like articles,comprising a drum support, a drum mounted on said support to berotatable about a substantially horizontally axis and having a forwardopen end, poweroperated means for rotating said drum, a plunger mountedto be axially shiftab'le in said drum, power means for axially shiftingsaid plunger from a retracted position toward fixed position at theforward end of the drum locking means for retaining said plunger in saidfixed position, a closure at said open end of the drum includingreleasable locking means for locking the same in closed position on thedrum to rotate therewith, a closure support rotatably supporting saidclosure to be movable from and toward said closed position, afluid-containing member mounted on said closure presenting afluid-expandable v 12 diaphragm iriwqrdly of the drum; and. meansfqrapply- 5973716 HWass' Ian. 25, 1898 ing 'fluidrprsqz qre in-saidfluid-Qantaining-mgmbertq ex- '1,531,9 22- Graham Mar. 31, 1925 pandsdiddiaphragm toward maid plunger in the locked" 1,547,266 Robe" July28, 1925 pbsition thereof. 2,157,395 Benson May 9, 1939 r 5 2,178 '38'5Alward Oct. 31, 1939 References Cited-in the file-of this patent2,230,533 Eckl F b 4, 1941 onthe original patent UNITED STATES PATENTS.

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